Jessica Ennis-Hill boosts Scholars as Sky Academy Confidence Month is launched
Wednesday 30 September 2015 15:27, UK
“My legs feel like jelly and I’m crumbling. That’s when I know I’m on it. I need my nerves.”
Five Sky Academy Sports Scholars sat four feet away, ears tuned in to every word, eyes glued, soaking up these emotive, incredible words. Words you wouldn't expect to come out of a reigning world and Olympic champion.
Heptathlete and Sky Academy Ambassador Jessica Ennis-Hill was opening up about her feelings before a hurdles race on the day she helped to launch Sky Academy Confidence Month, alongside TV presenters Davina McCall and Melvyn Bragg, Youtube vlogger Alfie Deyes and Mumsnet creator Justine Roberts.
Why is confidence so important? Does it affect your performance? How do you even get it when you don't have it? Are champions born with it?
These were some of the issues discussed on launch day at Sky HQ in west London, with the backdrop of a Sky Academy survey carried out by YouGov which found one in three young people are not confident and confidence levels plummets when they get older. Confidence is one of the skills which Sky Academy works alongside schools and inspirational role models to help build to unlock potential in young people.
For full details of the Sky Academy survey, go to www.skyacademy.com/confidence-month/#/news/confidence-survey/
Scholars Jack Bateson (boxer) Elise Christie (speed skater), Olivia Breen (Paralympic sprinter and long jumper) Savannah Marshall (boxer) and Mark English (800m runner) were also treated to stirring words from Sky Academy mentors Will Greenwood (2003 Rugby World Cup winner) and Sky's football touchline reporter Geoff Shreeves as part of the workshops providing a platform to explore confidence-related topics.
These five athletes have already achieved great things on the world stage with the support of the Sky Academy Sports Scholarship scheme and they were encouraged, and surprised, to hear a sporting legend admit to confidence wobbles.
Here was Britain's London 2012 'poster girl' and world beater revealing even the greats had weaknesses.
I can't say strongly enough how good sport can be. It's given me the confidence, belief and a drive to be as successful as I possibly can.
Ennis-Hill, who has had to deal with becoming a mum in 2014 and overcoming a catalogue of injuries, said: "Confidence has played a huge part in my success. But it's not something that's come from the beginning. As a child I was skinny and quite small. And I was shy.
"At school I was bullied for being small. At the time it was hard but as I got better at sport I firstly could outrun the bullies but also I began to realise that I was really good at something and size was not an obstacle; and this helped me see that I was as good, if not better, than those who mocked me.
"Sport made me meet new people from different backgrounds and it took me out of my comfort zone and into a whole new world. I went to competitions and was away from home for the first time. I found confidence through experience.
"I didn't know what it took to be good and it took a long time. My confidence has been up and down over the last few years but I've learnt a lot through sport and it's helped me build my confidence and personality and it's made me who I am today.
"I can't say strongly enough how good sport can be. It's an amazing tool. It's changed my life and it's given me the confidence, belief and a drive to be as successful as I possibly can."
As well as hearing Ennis-Hill and Greenwood and sharing their own experiences, the Scholars were set the task of creating a collective confidence motto. After an hour of debate and message swapping, Ennis-Hill declared they had gone for: "Believe and Achieve".
Other mottos just pushed out of contention included "It's my time", "Never a step backwards", "No dumb ideas" and "Minor setback, major comeback".
The athletes were clearly pumped, relishing the advice and inspiration from the world champions and revelling at having an opportunity to discuss and exchange a shared and poignant message.
Irish runner Mark English, who has dealt with injury and loss of form this year, said: "Jess' passion, dedication and ability to perform under pressure are what sets her apart from her competitors.
"I found it highly informative to hear how she dealt with being the nation's biggest hope before London 2012. The discussion with Geoff Shreeves, Scholars, Tony Lester and Will Greenwood was the perfect platform for learning from one of the greatest athletes ever."
Olivia Breen added: "It was great spending time with Jess. She is so inspiring. She's had some bad times but learning how she dealt with them and how she turned them into positive experiences really helped me and made me realise never to give up as it seems her bad experiences have made her the amazing athlete and person she is today."
Speed skater Elise Christie is another dealing injury woe and said: "The day gave an insight into how everyone is different and how everyone portrays confidence differently. Meeting Jess was incredible. She has always been my sporting hero and to hear in person how she stayed confident after being out of her sport to have a baby was inspiring.
"I'm so proud to be part of the Sky Academy and be part of something that's encouraging children to reach their potentials, regardless of their insecurities."
Sky Academy's Scholar boxers were equally boosted by being involved with the launch of Confidence Month.
Middleweight Savannah Marshall admitted to being nervous just before a fight and said it had been an amazing experience to hear about the "useful ways of coping with certain situations".
While flyweight Jack Bateson added: "It's not every day you sit down and share your experiences with an Olympic and world champion.
"Confidence is so important in life and sport is just another way of bringing it out of yourself. Speaking to Jess, it was nice to know that even the best in the business have self doubts and are not always 100% confident. We spoke about past experiences and one of the most important things we came up with was to enjoy the moment."
Injuries have hampered the rise of Ennis-Hill. She was forced to miss the 2008 Olympics and 2013 Worlds. She only just made this year's World Championships in Beijing. There's also been the pressure of being Britain's golden girl of athletics. Cameras follow her every turn. Plus she's had to deal with the "crazy world" (her words) of becoming a mum for the first time. She won the World Championships in the summer a year after giving birth to son Reggie.
So what is the secret to maintaining her belief and confidence and becoming the best in the world?
"It's the failures when things go really wrong," Ennis-Hill added. "It's those moments when you say 'I can't really do this' and it's those moments when it does go wrong and you learn so much.
"It happened with my injury before the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Everyone was saying she's a good heptathlete but she'll never be a brilliant heptathlete and that I was too small and it was too hard to come back.
"Those moments make you so determined to be the best. It was all those failures and doubts that made me want to come back and it makes it so much sweeter when you go on to achieve in your career.
"Being confident makes a huge difference. The crucial thing is where you get that from. You'll go into a competition and you're going to be nervous, you're going to have adrenaline and you will worry and think 'can I do that' and that's totally normal.
"But you need to think logically. In a competition, you stop thinking logically. You need to have that little voice in your head that says 'I've done all the work, I've prepared, I've trained really hard and I can do it'.
"Success breeds confidence. I had that after winning the World Championships in 2009. That was my springboard. After those highs, you ride on a wave."
It will be fascinating to see how the Sky Academy Sports Scholars deal with those little voices that will become ever louder in the next few months leading up to Rio and beyond.
For full details on Sky Academy Confidence Month, go to www.skyacademy.com/confidence-month/
